Chapter 8
I couldn’t feel my hands.
Richard whispered, “What does that mean?”
Detective Harris answered carefully.
“Vanessa claims her mother interfered with Evelyn Carter’s medical care.”
“No.”
The word came out of me before I could stop it.
“No. My mother had pancreatic cancer.”
“We have not verified Vanessa’s allegations.”
“She was sick.”
“I understand.”
“She was dying.”
“Yes.”
I forced myself to breathe.
“What exactly did Vanessa say?”
Harris hesitated.
“She says Margaret paid someone to obtain information about Evelyn’s treatment.”
“Why?”
“According to Vanessa, Margaret believed Evelyn had created backup documents and wanted to find them before she died.”
My stomach turned.
Richard spoke.
“That doesn’t mean she killed her.”
“No,” Harris said. “Vanessa alleges something more specific.”
I closed my eyes.
“Say it.”
“She says Evelyn was approved for an experimental treatment program.”
I opened my eyes.
Mom had mentioned that.
Once.
A trial.
She said she didn’t qualify.
“She told us she was rejected.”
Harris continued.
“Vanessa says Margaret paid an intermediary to alter medical records submitted to the program, causing Evelyn to be excluded.”
The room blurred.
I grabbed the chair.
Martin caught my arm.
“No.”
“We are verifying everything.”
“Would the treatment have saved her?”
“I can’t answer that.”
Of course he couldn’t.
Nobody could.
That almost made it worse.
Maybe Mom still would have died.
Maybe not.
But someone may have stolen even the possibility.
Richard was shaking.
“Where did Vanessa learn this?”
“From her mother.”
“When?”
“Years later. During an argument.”
I heard myself ask, “Did Vanessa know before she tried to steal the trust?”
“Yes.”
That answer hardened something inside me.
“Then she knew what her mother did to mine.”
“Apparently.”
“And she still continued it.”
“Yes.”
I stopped crying.
The grief became colder.
“Where is Vanessa now?”
“In custody.”
“I want to speak to her.”
“Claire—”
“I want to see her.”
Harris refused at first.
By afternoon, after we flew back, he allowed a brief supervised conversation because Vanessa had requested to speak with me as part of her cooperation.
Richard wasn’t allowed inside.
Neither was Martin.
Just me.
Detective Harris sat behind me.
Vanessa entered wearing county-issued clothes instead of designer white.
No makeup.
Hair tied back.
She looked smaller.
I felt nothing.
She sat.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then Vanessa said, “Emma okay?”
My nails dug into my palm.
“You don’t get to say her name.”
She looked down.
“I didn’t tell Melissa to kidnap her.”
“You told her to use my daughter to get the letter.”
“I told her to bring Emma outside.”
“That is kidnapping.”
“I know that now.”
“You knew it then.”
She swallowed.
“I was desperate.”
“So you hit her?”
“That wasn’t planned.”
“Stop saying that.”
Her eyes rose.
“What?”
“You keep talking about terrible things as if they only count when you planned them.”
She looked away.
“You slapped a five-year-old because you hated what she represented.”
“I was angry.”
“You ordered her to kneel.”
“I lost control.”
“You grabbed my hair.”
“You shoved me.”
“You tried to steal her inheritance.”
Vanessa’s eyes filled with tears.
I didn’t care.
“You helped your mother.”
“I didn’t understand at first.”
“At what age did you understand?”
She didn’t answer.
“Twenty?”
Silence.
“Twenty-five?”
Silence.
“Thirty?”
She looked at me.
“After Mom disappeared.”
“So four years ago.”
“Yes.”
“And you still kept going.”
“I thought she was dead.”
“What does that change?”
“Everything.”
“No.”
I leaned forward.
“It changes nothing.”
Vanessa wiped her cheek.
“You don’t understand my mother.”
“You’re right. I understand mine.”
She flinched.
Good.
“She knew Margaret was dangerous and still protected us without filling our lives with fear.”
“I hated your mother.”
“I know.”
“She judged us.”
“My mother barely talked about you.”
“That was worse.”
I stared.
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“Do you know what it’s like growing up hearing that everything you have exists because Evelyn Carter saved your father?”
“No.”
“Dad talked about her constantly.”
“My mother never mentioned him.”
Her face tightened.
“He admired her.”
There it was.
Something deeper.
Childish jealousy dragged into adulthood.
“He trusted her more than Mom.”
“Maybe because my mother didn’t forge his credentials.”
Vanessa looked away.
“Mom said Evelyn was manipulating him.”
“Did you believe that?”
“For years.”
“And now?”
Vanessa stared at her hands.
“No.”
That surprised me.
“She lied to everyone,” Vanessa whispered. “Even me.”
“About what?”
“She said the Carters wanted to take everything.”
“We didn’t even know the trust existed.”
“I know.”
“When did you realize?”
“When I found your mother’s old emails.”
“What emails?”
Vanessa looked toward Harris.
He nodded.
“Tell her.”
She inhaled.
“Your mother wrote to Dad for years.”
Richard had said they communicated.
That wasn’t new.
But Vanessa continued.
“She never asked for money.”
My throat tightened.
“She kept telling him not to tell you about Riverside unless something happened to her.”
“Why?”
“Because she wanted you to have normal lives.”
I closed my eyes briefly.
Of course.
Vanessa continued.
“She wrote that Claire deserves to build something that belongs to Claire.”
That sounded so much like Mom I almost heard her voice.
“Then why keep trying to steal from us?”
Vanessa started crying.
“Because I was already in too deep.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“I had debts.”
“What debts?”
“Personal loans. Investments. Properties.”
“You made hundreds of thousands a year.”
“I spent more.”
“So you stole six million.”
Her eyes snapped up.
“You know?”
“Yes.”
She laughed once.
“Then you know everything.”
“No. I know enough.”
“Mom knew.”
“What?”
“About the money.”
“When she came back?”
Vanessa nodded.
“She contacted me eight months ago.”
Richard had spent four years thinking his wife was dead.
Vanessa knew she was alive for eight months.
“Did you tell your father?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“She said she could help me fix everything.”
“By stealing Emma’s trust.”
“By consolidating family ownership.”
“Call it what it is.”
Vanessa’s voice cracked.
“Fine. Stealing.”
I sat back.
“What does she want with Riverside?”
Vanessa hesitated.
“Money.”
“There’s already money.”
“Not enough.”
“For what?”
“She owes people.”
“What people?”
“She wouldn’t tell me.”
Harris leaned forward.
“Vanessa.”
She shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
I studied her.
“You’re scared of her.”
Vanessa looked at me.
For the first time, the arrogance disappeared completely.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she never stops.”
I thought of Mom’s treatment.
“Where is Margaret?”
Vanessa swallowed.
“She has another identity.”
“What name?”
“Margaret Lane is one. There are others.”
“Where would she go?”
“To get the deed.”
“She doesn’t have it.”
Vanessa’s face changed.
“You found it.”
I said nothing.
She leaned forward.
“Claire, listen to me. Do not keep the original with you.”
“I’m not taking advice from you.”
“I mean it.”
“So do I.”
“She will come for it.”
“Let her.”
“No.”
Fear flashed across Vanessa’s face.
“You think she’s like me.”
“Aren’t you?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“No.”
“You slapped my daughter.”
“I know.”
“You helped kidnap her.”
“I know.”
“You stole millions.”
“I know.”
“What exactly makes Margaret worse?”
Vanessa whispered, “She doesn’t get angry.”
I remembered the recording.
Margaret’s smooth voice.
Calm threats.
Vanessa continued.
“When I lose control, everyone sees it.”
She looked at me.
“My mother smiles.”
A chill moved through me.
“She smiles while she ruins you.”
Harris asked, “Where would she go next?”
Vanessa closed her eyes.
Then opened them.
“Daniel.”
I froze.
“Your brother?”
“She’ll use him.”
“For what?”
“He still has access to Dad.”
“Does Daniel know she’s alive?”
“No.”
The door opened suddenly.
An officer stepped inside.
He whispered something to Harris.
Harris stood.
“What happened?”
He looked at me.
“Daniel Whitmore is missing.”
Vanessa stood so fast her chair fell.
“No.”
Harris frowned.
“What?”
Vanessa went white.
“She found him.”
I stood.
“How do you know?”
Vanessa grabbed the edge of the table.
“Because that’s what she said she’d do if I failed.”
“Do what?”
Vanessa looked at me.
May you like
Her voice barely came out.
“She said she’d make Richard choose between his son and Emma.”
